[SunkenCiv]

Middle Stone Age cooking

Early evidence of cooked starchy plant food is sparse, yet the consumption of starchy roots is likely to have been a key innovation in the human diet. Wadley et al. report the identification of whole, charred rhizomes of plants of the genus Hypoxis from Border Cave, South Africa, dated up to 170,000 years ago. These archaeobotanical remains represent the earliest direct evidence for the cooking of underground storage organs. The edible Hypoxis rhizomes appear to have been cooked and consumed in the cave by the Middle Stone Age humans at the site. Hypoxis has a wide geographical distribution, suggesting that the rhizomes could have been a ready and reliable carbohydrate source for Homo sapiens in Africa, perhaps facilitating the mobility of human populations.

• Cooked starchy rhizomes in Africa 170 thousand years ago | Science 03 Jan 2020: Vol. 367, Issue 6473, pp. 87-91 | Lyn Wadley, Lucinda Backwell, Francesco d'Errico, Christine Sievers

[rdl6989]

I had to look to see what Hypoxis is.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypoxis

[GraceG]

Bad hunters have been around a long time...

[Leep]

Also, would that be the earliest root cellar ever?

[Deplorable American1776]

Roasting vegetables...So simple even a caveman* can do it...

*Who were smarter than the modern Democrat party elites...😋

[GreyFriar]

I just realized, based upon this post, that we can blame man caused global warming on those ancient Africans who began cooking their root vegetables instead of being thoughtful enough to be satisfied eating them raw.

[null and void]

Meat and potatoes, it’s what’s for dinner!

[left that other site]

Just Don't Eat 'Em Raw

[x]

I could make a joke about “Vegetables and Dirt” being the top of the line entrée in some ethnic restaurants, but that would be wrong.

[mkmensinger]

“the earliest roasted root vegetables yet found.”

So even back then, somebody didn’t eat their vegetables.

[PGR88]

Did they also find organic goat cheese and white wine vinagrette?

[dp0622]

I wonder if their health insurance plans cut prices if they ate healthy?

Maybe a few extra bucks off for joining a gym

[GnuThere]

There’s still a fruitcake that’s older.

[LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget]

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/23161958_’African_Potato’_Hypoxis_hemerocallidea_corm_A_Plant-Medicine_for_Modern_and_21st_Century_Diseases_of_Mankind_-_A_Review

Witch doctor herb. Kind of a stone age ibuprofen. Not dietary.

[chajin]

Take me out to the cave man,
Take me to Africa,
Buy me some mammoth, a big rib rack,
I don’t care if he’s white, red, or black,
Cause it’s root, root, root for potatoes,
If they don’t roast, it’s a shame,
For it’s ONE!-TWO!-three spears, you’re out
At the Cave Man Game!

[doorgunner69]

Somebody did not want to eat them even back than, eh?

[IronJack]

I prefer something fresher.

[b4its2late]

If Slick Willy was still in office, he’d offer to eat them.